Champagne is generally associated with feelings of euphoric excess and the special occasions that prompt them -- New Year's Eve celebrations, weddings, birthdays, promotions. Even if you're in the mood to splurge, a large crowd or a tight budget can prompt the pursuit of cheap Champagne. From France to Spain, Italy, and California, there's enough excellent bubbly to go around for $10 or less. The challenge lies in knowing what you're buying. We considered online reviews and ratings from a variety of sources and consulted a wine expert to come up with our top picks.

If you think cheap white wine is only for grandma's spritzer, think again. There's a white wine -- costing no more than $10 to satisfy almost anyone's palate. Inexpensive white wines can complement a range of foods, brighten up a lazy summer afternoon, and make an excellent substitute for pre-dinner cocktails. White wines typically present fruity and/or floral flavors and aromas, sometimes offer a bit of spice and earthiness, and range in sugar content from bone dry to dessert-level sweet. We've made top picks based on tastings, ratings, reviews, and awards, on top of expert advice, and suspect wine drinkers will find at least one selection to suit both their sipping preferences and their budget.

Who needs a premium red wine when a thoroughly respectable bottle costs $10 or less? Frugal quaffers who know even a little bit about wine and aren't afraid to go with what they like will find many such bottles. There are hundreds of cheap red wines out there -- some barely worth the few dollars you'd pay but many worth drinking. With so many styles, grape varieties, producers, and labels to choose among, shopping can be a challenge. To guide wine drinkers through the thicket, we've made top picks based on tastings, ratings, reviews, awards, and expert advice. We've also selected a wide array of other inexpensive red wines fit to serve with a meal, bring to a party, or sip over the course of a quiet evening.

Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Bar Review

You're probably wondering why we included Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Milk Chocolate Ice Cream bars ($1.60/unit) in this review of cheap ice cream novelties. Simply because we figured that at more than double the price of the three budget entries in this category, it would be the cream of the crop and we wanted to see how the other brands stacked up against it. As it turns out, lower-cost ice cream bars surpassed this premium product in our hands-on review. Prior to the blind taste test we conducted with six panelists, several expressed their love for Haagen-Dazs ice cream of all kinds and were certain this novelty would win out. The results of the taste test proved otherwise.

As one reviewer succinctly stated: "It tastes pretty good. I would rank it close to the top but it's not the best." That was the most favorable feedback offered up for this Haagen-Dazs ice cream treat. The rest of our review panel found it bland and lacking any obvious flavor. "Nothing stands out," said one. "Not a great overall flavor of ice cream or chocolate."

Most online comments concern the brand's more creative ice cream bar flavors, such as vanilla milk chocolate almond or salted caramel. One posted at Walmart for the vanilla milk chocolate version that we tested heartily endorses the combination of coating and filling as the perfect summer treat.

And while it might taste good going down, the goodness comes at a high cost -- and we don't necessarily mean monetarily. The Haagen-Dazs ice cream bar contains 280 calories and 20 grams of fat.

The brand was officially introduced in 1960 after getting its start in the Bronx, a New York City borough. By 1973 Haagen-Dazs ice cream was sold throughout the East Coast and in 1976 the first Haagen-Dazs store opened. The company was sold to Pillsbury in 1983. Haagen-Dazs products are all about ice cream and include many different ice cream flavors, gelato, sorbet, frozen yogurts, and of course a variety of bars -- eight to be exact, ranging from the original vanilla to pomegranate and salted caramel.

Given the Haagen-Dazs bar's unimpressive showing in our comparative review and the rich price, don't hesitate to spring for one of the budget brands we tested.

Raechel Conover

Raechel Conover is a freelance writer whose work has appeared on Yahoo, blogs, and other websites. She's a self-confessed shopaholic and frugal mom, always scouring the sale and clearance racks for deals and taking full advantage of free community activities and events with her husband and young sons.